The Sweet Three
by Selnum
Summary: This is my submission for Candy's Fanfiction Contest! Summary: The Sweet Three, Stars, Sweets, and Djoey face a typical trial in their lives.


This is my entry for the Candy Delight Fanfiction Contest, I am attempting for first prize and all, so here I go! :D I apologize in advance for mistakes you come across, I'm not the best writer but I do love writing. Please enjoy!

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A lock of Auburn hair fell gently into a puddle of non-moving water. It lay there, curved and peaceful. At least, until a large and violent ripple sent the lock sailing to the edge of the puddle, before a cackle of loud white lightning sprinted across the top and burnt it to a speck of black dust.

A pair of cries were heard in near unison and a bright light exploded into the air emitting a giant dome of light that stretched for several yards. When it finally dissipated there were two men who lay winded on a closed field that was fenced off by wooden poles.

On one side of what seemed to be an arena a man was on one knee, his fist into the ground. Sweat fell from his brow on the earth below him as he fought to catch his breath. With the back of his free hand he pushed back his spiky bangs to the left which exposed a vibrant red eye. His Auburn hair partially covered the other, but the piercing shade of lime green broke through the bangs refusing to be ignored.

Pushing himself, he came to a full stand and with the same hand began to dust the black fur that was the collar to his jacket. His father had always taught him that if he were to preach the word of Althea, he better look respectable and admirable enough to do it. Though, as an orphan the father he referred to was that of the Clerics, and not his actual father. Nevertheless he considered him his real father.

His father preached that to be clean was to show strength and nobility which the Clerics were, not savages. That even included when he was fighting.

The silver-lined black jacket was slightly worn and to him that was _unacceptable_. Gritting his teeth he looked down to notice that on his white slacks there was a brown smudge. A tiny flinch in his eyebrow and a miniscule curve of a frown at the corner of his lips, he moved his gloved hand to wipe the mud off of his slacks. He didn't mind fighting, not even the least. But when it came to his appearance, if one were to inflict wounds on his attire it would be the same as insulting Althea and his Clergy itself.

With that in mind, he raised his blue wand and stood ready to face his opponent.

"Done making yourself pretty, brother?"

Across the field a red wand was pointed at him. A very similar white glove held the weapon steadily as it began to cackle with energy once again. The owner of the voice threw his head back to part his hair, exposing an energetic shade of lime green. The hair rested in front of his other eye, which like his brother was also a bright apple red that watched his brother closely through his bangs. Unlike his brother however, this individual had a drooping red collar and a ghostly pale white jacket. In the middle of the collar there was a big bolstering scarlet ruby. On the jacket were patches of black patches bordered with a shiny gold lining. His pants and boots followed suit, carrying black and gold trimmings with the noble finesse of white.

The Auburn-haired man sternly looked back at his brother, refusing to give an inch. His jaw muscles clenched and he raised his wand in battle-stance.

"At least I have class when it comes to combat. I'm not an ape as you are, Sweets."

Sweets burst into laughter, closing his eyes and with his free hand clutching his stomach as he bent over. His laughter was condescending, the tone was strong even over the constant cry of electricity that spew out of their wands.

"Did you even hear yourself right now Stars? You sound like an idiot!"

Stars nodded his head as his tempered rose to new heights. He was going to play this game was he? Stars knew **exactly** how to push his buttons and almost broke a smile as the words left his lips.

"I'm the idiot? At least I _only_ chase after the girl I love!" Stars watched as Sweets cheeky expression was instantly transformed into a frown. Sweets roared and started chanting. Stars followed suit and their words of prayer and enchanting filled the air with energy from Altera.

" _I pray to thee, our goddess Altea the divine creator to shine upon me."_

Light started to congregate on the ground, forming blue symbols of faith.

" _That the Tempest give me his strength, to vanquish my foes._"

The light on the ground began to brilliantly shine, a low pitched humming sound came from the sigils that were beneath the both of them. The animals that were nearby began scampering away in their homes or fleeing the scene as the energy that radiated from the field became a sight to behold.

"_That the Sentinel give me his courage, to protect my brothers and sisters."_

Sweets reached into his pocket with his free hand, his other wielding the wand upright and towards his brother. He pulled out three tiny stone crests that looked like tiny wands with wings attached to them. These crests were all gold plated with rubies attached and each jingled in his hand as he continued his chant. The crest began to glow a dim yellow hue.

"_That the dragons of old imbue me with divine and holy light."_

Stars bent his knees and weld his wand tightly. His free hand was a closed fist over his heart, his trainer had always told him that when one were ever to pray they must always do so with the most feeling. Stars then felt that his heart had the most emotion and called to it in his prayer. The tendrils that fired from his wand grew thicker and larger, spiking off enough to touch the terrain and wildly flailed.

"_From shining dawn, to dying dusk, I will be your sword and shield."_

The yellow dim glow around Sweets' crest continued to grow in intensity. Sweets closed his hand around them with a firm fist, yet as he continued his prayer tiny coils of volts spewed from his hand like a hole in the bottom of a rice bag. Then, in a quick motion threw his three crests and they exploded into large cleric relics that flew with menacing force towards Stars. All three crests were overflowing with yellow lightning and it burnt the ground beneath it as it flew.

" _The darkness will fear our wrath, and we shalt show no mercy upon the wicked."_

Stars readied himself out of his stance and spun in a circle, wand in tow. Using the momentum of the spin, he threw his body into his wand and nearly flew off the ground as a large bulb of blue electricity in the form of a ball shot out of his wand towards Sweets. It grew in size until it was as large as the three relics that flew at them and had an incredibly large amount of force behind it as well. Lightning came out of the ball thrashing about like appendages of a mad animal.

Both of their attacks met in the middle of the field and sparks exploded in all directions. The bright light instantaneously blew from the location nearly blinding both of the brothers. They reflexively brought an arm up to cover their eyes but kept focus on their attack, feeling their mana draining from them.

"_With this prayer I beseech of Altea to banish my enemy in her glory._"

The power of the three relics fell to the ground kicking up a large cloud of debris. They dug into the soil beneath them but did not lose any fervor. The relics continued to pulse a luminous flash of yellow as it fought the blue energy that tried to overpower it.

The large sphere of blue energy dug into the ground creating it's own crater. It too had much stamina left in it and continued to pulse like a beating heart, except with every pulse an enormous amount of lustrous blue fought against the yellow.

The brothers were at the end of the prayer and they both used whatever energy they had left to attempt to push the boundaries of their clash. Neither wanted to give in and surrender to the other, and neither wanted to admit they were at a stalemate.

"_Amen."_

With the final word of their prayer finished, the power of the two spells that collided into each other reached a critical state and detonated in a huge flash. The explosion knocked both the brothers off of their feet and sent a shock wave that sounded like a volcanic eruption in every direction.

Smoke rose from the middle of the sparring field as the two brothers lay on the ground attempting to catch their breath. There was nothing left of the sparing field but singed earth and the wooden poles that marked the arena were nowhere to be seen.

This had happened on occasion between the two brothers, they had often got very competitive with each other in the show of which one was stronger or weaker. They both bested one another but still yearned to hopefully get the edge in the next fight, despite the result usually always coming up to be the same.

Through the smoke, the fire on the ground became active, manipulating itself and moving in frantic directions before suddenly wilting and extinguishing themselves. The smoke dissipated within moments as there was no fuel for it to feed on, and the diminishing haze revealed a third person to join the fray. This time, a woman.

She furled her lips and blew up her cheeks in frustration, hating how the two brothers always sparred and fought without her. Shaking with rage she was careful not to knock off the flower tiara that was on her head and patted it down around her hair. She had an overflowing amount of pale brown hair that cascaded down past her slender frame. A pair of sky blue eyes surveyed the scorched earth in front of them. The dissipating smoke matched well against her gothic styled black and white dress. The collar and edges of the sleeves had large amounts of white puffy fur, and the bottom trimming of her dress had bright red stitches. A grimoire and large bright golden yellow staff floated behind her, leaving her hands free.

With a careful step she placed her head in her hands with a deep sigh. Her two friends overdid it again. She skipped over to the nearest fighter, Sweets. Through singed Earth and large craters she hopped from one foot to the other between it all, pout on her face.

She knelt down to Sweets and grunted in disapproval.

"You both always get to have so much fun and never invite me! I wanna fight too you know?" Her voice was light hearted and cheerful, almost like a child. Sweets lifted his head at the sound of her voice and offered a smile.

"Heaven be praised such a pretty woman to raise me from the dead." Sweets offered his compliment, reaching a hand to her. She cocked her head at him and raised an eyebrow.

"But... you're not dead Sweets!" His attempt to flatter her flew straight over her head as she accepted his hand and pulled him to his feet. Sweets relished the feeling of her soft skin through his glove, it was that of an angel. Radiating kindness as if she was the goddess of Altera, Altea herself. That her fair beauty was fairer than-

Sweets was interrupted in his thought process of the image of her leaving him standing there in his trance.

"Djoey?" He asked as he struggled to stand on both of his feet. His eyes wandered to the fleeting image of the woman he fonded over and gritted his teeth to see her doing the same for Stars. He couldn't get mad at her, he never would. It's Djoey's nature to always be so caring and nurturing to others. It was one of the primary reasons he was infatuated from her to begin with.

Sweets followed over her to the fallen form of his brother, Stars. He smiled and shook his head leaning down to pick up his brother.

"By the word of Altea, how does this guy fall asleep in the middle of the most heated moments?" Sweets asked with a half smile and chuckled softly. Djoey shrugged her shoulders very enthusiastically and offered a large smile to Sweets.

"I don't know either, but that's what makes him, him! I wouldn't change him the way he is!" Sweets rolled his eyes. Seeing a minor opportunity he attempted to grab at it.

"Since he's... passed out, what say you and I go and make some delicious fresh treats? We can make your favorite Oddish Berry Tart!" Djoey's eyes lighted up instantly with hearts in her eyes. She absolutely loved sweet food, especially the one that Sweets made. It almost bothered her how good he was at it, he should name himself after the food he makes!

"Oh! That's a delighted idea Sweets, how I would love to make some Oddish Berry Tart with you!" She nodded her head almost vigorously as she clasped her hands together. She looked down at Stars who was sleeping soundly, holding onto his wand as if intent on fighting still.

"We can't leave him here though! Could you carry him, please?"

Sweets sighed, his shoulders slumping in unison. Djoey cocked her head and hummed in question at him but he waved it off. He prayed silently in his head why did Altea give such a beautiful maiden to him but refuse to acknowledge his attempts to court her? Swinging one of Stars' arms over his shoulder they made their way back to Ironwood Village. It was to be an hour long trek.

It was at this point he wished they had a form of four legged transportation. Ironwood Village has a flurry of Fluffalos for sale, as well as a couple of horses in their stable for sale the last time they had visited. But it fortunately or unfortunately as he had learned to think in his head, not only was of it the way of the clergy to not ask for payment, but Djoey was adamant about it as well. It didn't bother Sweets most of the time, but it was inconvenient at others.

Their pace was a bit slower, being that Sweets had to carry Stars since he had passed out. That was normal at times and he had gotten used to it. In all honesty he would be able to keep up with Djoey if she was a in rush, the had been in a couple of close calls before where tugging Stars was no problem at all in full speed. He smiled at the sight that he had come used to, even grew fond to.

There Djoey was, running back and forth between the trail greeting any critters left and right with a smile, possibly a hug if she could catch them, and observed with delight. Rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, gophers, poochums, goblins, bats, quacks, and alligators it didn't matter. Sweets had his suspicions, she did love to eat so it's a possibility that she loves animals because of her love of food. Sweets watched as she got on her hands and knees, and rubbed her nose against a baby bunny who was delighted from the pleasant aura she carried around her. Sweets felt his suspicions fading.

"Help!" The cry of someone in danger cut Sweets out of his thoughts and it caught Djoey's attention as well. Djoey looked over at Sweets and he nodded acknowledging that she wanted to investigate first.

"Be careful." Sweets cautioned her to which she nodded and ran down the road that began to bend. Sweets lost vision of her as the hills and trees declined and turned. He adjusted Stars and moved faster and started going downhill making sure to be careful. Turning the corner his vision was greeting with the image of Djoey kneeling on the ground, the head of an elderly woman resting on it. She appeared to be winded, and looking down at her garment, there was a large bloodstain at her stomach region that she held onto.

She was a frail looking woman that was really small, long grey hair matted to her forehead and wrinkled skin. She wore a large leather garb that covered herself almost completely, save her small feet that poked out of the bottom.

"Oh no... miss what happened? Did someone do this to you?" The old woman groaned in pain, one of her eyes closed no doubt in agony. The other she opened and weakly spoke to Djoey.

"Miss..." She whispered, her voice was weak. Sweets moved in closer looking around the area. She was laying on the decline of the hill and the path was inbetween two large overhanging cliffs that towered several yards above them on both sides. Effectively, there was only two directions you can go and that was forward or backward, and not a lot of breathing room either way. Sweets lay Stars down and raised an eyebrow at the situation. What was an old woman doing in a place like this?

Sweets noticed there was a wool covered bag that she was carrying that lay on the ground, she must have been traveling but again it bugged Sweets as to why she took this route?

"Please, it hurts. I need a cleric." She spoke with great pauses between her words. Djoey brushed her head gently and ushered for Sweets to come closer. He laid Stars down on the ground near them and rushed to the woman's side, readying his wand.

"My name is Sweets and I am a Saint from the order of the Clerics. You need not worry for I will cleanse your wound." He lay down his shield and wand and placed both of his hands over the woman's stomach. Sweets commenced his prayer and a yellow sigil appeared of both of his hands, light poured down like the sun breaking through the clouds and unto the woman's stomach.

"Dear lady, I'm going to have to ask you to remove your hands so my healing can reach you." Sweets offered, smiling at the old woman. She slowly turned her head to him, her weak eye meeting his and he felt a **sickening** feeling in his gut. Sweets was taken back by this feeling. He was confused, why did he feel this urging feeling of nausea? As he felt this feeling, a couple pebbles fell from the cliff above which caught Sweets' attention.

Suddenly without warning the old woman's garb flew up in a flurry and covered Djoey in a flash. The woman jumped up placing an open palm against Sweets' chest and a shockwave of energy shot him back off his legs. Djoey yelped in surprise as the gray and brown cloth wrapped around the both of them with incredible speed. Sweets cried out for Djoey and jumped up after her, grabbing onto the spinning cloth. He yanked at it but the cloth was lifeless and under it neither of them were to be seen.

At the end of the pathway between the two cliffs thirty yards away was Djoey with arms and legs shackled by what seemed to be inscribed metal. Metal pillars that had green sigils carved into them stood in a pentagram formation that bound her to them.

The frail looking woman was no longer herself. Weak brown eyes were replaced by a pale pink. She was hooded and wore an incredibly revealing dress with black leggings. Thick black horns with large rubies protruded out of her hood and the back of her dress. She wore metallic gauntlets that had deadly claws. Sweets recognized that kind of outfit as soon as he saw it. Only one race would wear something so despicable and lewd, and their very existence offended the order.

"A Dark Elf." Sweets whispered under his breath, wand at the ready.

"Not just any Dark Elf, pitiful priest. My name is Ariel, and I will feast on your magical powers to become stronger! Hahaha!" Djoey attempted to conjure her staff and grimoire, but it was no use. The shackles seemed to somehow leech off of her magical powers, and whenever she tried to cast a spell or summon her weapons the chains that held her hummed. The sigils on the pillars vividly flashed an olive-green. It leeched her strength, and Djoey felt herself becoming exhausted and the chains tighter.

"Sweets!" Djoey tried to yell for his assistance, but the amount of energy that was being absorbed from her gave her voice little strength but a whisper.

Sweets didn't need to know that. Gritting his teeth and gripping his wand, Sweets charged at the Dark Elf.

"You release her NOW!" Suddenly arrows rained down from above him. Sweets quickly changed his running pace and jumped sideways to dodge a flurry of arrows. He threw up his left arm to cover himself and his shield quickly transformed on his forearm to block another volley of arrows.

He lowered the shield to view dozens of Kobold Snipers that lined the clifftops. They jumped around energetically and pointed at him, launching another flurry of arrows.

"I don't have time for this!" With a wave of his hand and a motion as quick as a gunslinger, crests fell down from the sky onto the top side of the cliffs and immediately electrocuted the Kobolds on both sides. They comically scattered as they fried and burned, running into each other while attempting to put themselves out.

Djoey's eyelids began to droop and her vision started to blur around the edges. Drowsiness started to creep it's way into her mind as her magical energy was being drained from her. It wasn't exactly painful but it took it's toll on her. She watched as Sweets dived in to combat Kobold Assassins that appeared around him. Puffs of smoke fogged his immediate perimeter, and kobolds leapt at him with daggers and knives. Sweets was agile, and was able to dodge most of it. The slips of steel that was able to come in from unnoticed directions was blocked by a large circle sigil that would appear out of nowhere. Sweets had conjured a prayer of protection that their father had taught them.

Djoey brought her attention over to the dark elf that had taken her prisoner. The woman was holding a book that was closed in her left palm which caught her attention. Then, as she noticed what the woman was trying to do she couldn't help but feel her heart drop into the pit of her stomach.

"No..." Djoey whimpered, but couldn't speak loud. "No." Her voice was a little louder, more stern. The clouds of confusion started to clear in her head for a second. "NO!" Djoey cried. The dark elf turned her head back sideways.

"Oh...you can speak? Are you trying to tell me something?" Her voice would have been beautiful if it was not at the end of such a cruel witch. She giggled after asking her question. A smug look of pleasure flashed across her face.

"Didn't think I would know that there was a hidden script to your grimoire did you now? I'm not a normal witch, human." The dark elf licked her lips. "The forbidden magic of the Sorcerer's Den, how delicious. All the more to feed my strength and make me the most powerful elf of Altera!"

"You don't understand..." Djoey said. Every single spell in the hidden scripts was there for a reason. The magic was too volatile for any channel of magic to attempt to conjure. There were many cases of rogue mages attempted to use the magic only to summon an unspeakable horror, or perish themselves during the spell.

"Oh I do understand human, I understand that your frail bodies can't handle the threshold of the magic you have created, but not I. Ariel Gravenclaw of the dark elves!" The dark elf's right gauntlet began to glow in a dark purple hue, and she began to concentrate on the spell she had found in the Old Catacombs. Pages of light poured out of the cover of the book, almost as if they were in a hidden compartment of the leather spine.

"Yes..." She squealed in delight. The sound of a giant thump and a huge cloud of dust erupted not too far from her. Looking up, she huffed in disgust as the Saint came running through the puff of smoke. Behind him was all of the mercenaries she had hired, dispatched. She was disappointed at their performance, but she did not exactly expect much from the kobold mecenary troop she had hired.

Sweets took care of the melee kobold assassins that had tried to smokescreen and attacked him with relative ease. At least a hundred of them lay fallen on the ground around him. Not only did that technique not work against a man of the goddess who could protect himself with lightning, but over the many years of fighting he had to endure it was easy for him to counter many threats.

He didn't have much time and he knew that. Time was of the essence and he could see the strength of Djoey's will was dissipating as time went on. He had to get to her, and he had to get to her now. He approached the dark elf and her imprisoning pillars with quick speed.

A low-boom was heard and giant black sigil appeared under Sweets. It encompassed the cliff side and was around ten yards wide. Sweets cussed when the sigil activated and tiny black circles of clocks surrounded him, suspending him in time.

Sweets tapped into his mana, crying out in his soul for the goddess of Altera to free him of his bonds. A giant relic fell from the sky landing next to Sweets with devastating force. Immediately a ring of white light erupted from the relic disintegrating the black clocks that kept Sweets frozen solid. However, the force had unearthed a lot of soil that was right below Sweets which revealed several dozen ghouls that were laying in ambush.

Sweets opened his mouth in horror as the ghouls leapt at him from all sides. Sweets had no angle of escape, and he had not the energy to create a sufficient defense against the horde of undead. Sweets ducked and raised his shield above him to do his best to block the ghouls from devouring him.

But that's not what happened.

"Chain Lightning!" Stars yelled behind his brother, wand at the ready. The sound of thunder echoed down the cliff-side and several bolts of lightning struck the ghouls down mid-pounce. The lightning mirrored off of each other, bouncing from the ghouls simultaneously as lightning also came down from the sky to strike the ghouls. The continuing crackle lit up the area in a near-blinding light that lasted several seconds. After it finally started to dim and their vision became clear all the ghouls lay on he ground charred and barbequed.

"Hmph!" Ariel huffed in annoyance. "It doesn't matter, for you two are too late to save you friend!" Ariel let out a menacing laugh as she held her stomach, losing herself in a fit of laughter.

Djoey had lost most of the color from her face, she was pale and her eyes lost the lustre that it normally had. She felt like she had stayed up for three days and three nights while constantly casting spells non-stop. Her body was heavy, heavier than anything she had ever lifted before. Her vision came and went every few seconds but she focused on at the very least being able to see her two best of friends fight to save her. She desperately needed their help, this witch did not know what she was doing.

"Are you okay?" Stars asked his brother, nonchalantly. Sweets stood up, nodding.

"Thank you brother." Stars glared at the witch, barely acknowledging his brother's gratitude. Sweets turned his attention back to the dark elf, happier now that his brother was there to help.

A force field was visible a couple of feet in front of them, a dim color of purple that made everything beyond it look glossy and faded. They would need to break through this force field if they were going to make it to Djoey and stop the dark elf from finishing whatever she was doing.

Wand's pointing at the witch, they began to chant together. As they began to pray the witch laughed and laughed again, mocking them in their ritual.

"Please, as if." The witch waved her hand and black fire shot out from them in flurries. They snaked and spun in circles at the two priests with unquestionable speed. Sweets dashed in front of his brother to block the fireballs. Shield up he was able to block the first couple of them but they moved around his shield like they had a life of their own and connected with the both of them sending them flying.

The force was tremendous despite the small size of the fireballs. Sweets and Stars slid against the soil, kicking up dirt and smoke for several feet before they stopped.

"Oww..." Sweets groaned, rolling off of his stomach and onto his back. He breathed in an erratic rhythm, attempting to catch his breath from the wind getting knocked out of him. Despite the force he looked relatively intact, save a few cuts on his arms and legs that had cut through his clothes. "That hurt."

"Hurt is an understatement." Stars finished, shaking his head free of dirt that accumulated there during his _very_ comfortable face roll. They both gathered their wits about them and again their ears were assaulted by the witch's laughter.

"Such strength and power!" She looked over at Djoey, bending over to place a delicate claw on her cheek. "Oh don't look so down dear, your power is going to be put to great use! With it, I am already the strongest dark elf there has ever been!" She roared in laughter again, a wicked sparkle in her eyes as she clutched her stomach in a fit of laughter.

"No..." Djoey calmly spoke. The dark elf immediately stopped her laughter when Djoey interjected. She immediately was next to the girl's side, a scowl on her face.

"What did you just say to me?" She raised the young pyromancer's face to meet hers. Djoey felt the claws of the woman's gauntlet dig into her cheeks. It hurt, but she wouldn't let her get away with what she had done with her pride.

"The greatest, wouldn't be such a coward." Djoey continued. Ariel laughed and let Djoey go, her head immediately drooping back down to the ground. She turned to eye both of the priests attempting to break her force field. They cast their silly spells and prayed to their pitiful excuse for a goddess for strength that did little but not even dent to her glorious force field.

"You know what, you're right. I should use this newly attained power of mine and put it to the test." Ariel left Djoey on the platform alone. The witch's hands burned in black fire, her costume following suit and prepared to conjure a field of black fire around it. The ground around her began to scorch randomly as she approached the two priests, waving her hand to lower the force field.

"Alright boys, you really want to be in the oven that badly? Let me bring the heat TO YOU." Ariel cried out and raised her hands open palmed to the sky. Black energy manifested on top of both of her hands at a rapid rate. The brothers looked at each other to formulate a plan. Both of them were exhausted from their spar earlier, and Sweets was almost completely out of his mana pool.

"Let's see you beat this." Ariel cried and with the two small black vortexes in her hands she combined them together and they melted into one small ball. Sweets raised an eyebrow at the tiny ball of energy. The witch jumped back, the small sphere didn't move, it gently was suspended mid air. Stars' eyes widened for a second.

"We gotta move now!" Stars reached into Sweets' pocket and pulled out his last two crests. Stars threw them into the cliff evenly and chanted the scripture to enlarge them. He watched the witch to see how far she was into the spell while Sweets stood there battle ready still confused.

"Stars what's going-" Stars grabbed Sweets and ran towards the cliff, jumping onto the first relic. Sweets was still confused as his brother held him over his shoulder and kept grabbing onto rock after rock as he climbed up.

The witch giggled. "How interesting. But can you make it?" She flicked her wrist and the ball started to move towards the pair. The sphere in mere seconds began expanding and doubling it's size again and again. Within a flash it was already as large as the cliffs and flew down the valley eating and obliterating every spec of rock that dare lay in its path.

"What in the name of Altea..." Sweets called out as Stars made it to the second relic, which was lodged into the middle of the cliff. The sphere came barreling towards them, only several yards away as it made a perfect circle of decimated earth behind it. It continued to expand as it came towards them, though not as dramatic as the first few seconds.

"It's coming Stars!" Stars grunted and attempted to assess the situation. He had seconds before both of them would be nothing but specs of dust. The distance to the top of the cliff would be impossible for the both of them to get to the top at climbing pace, so they needed to break the distance immediately.

Stars growled as he summoned strength, and with as much physical force as he could muster he threw his brother towards the cliff. Sweets yelled in surprise as he flew up to the cliff, rolling out of view. Stars then pointed his mace towards the floor and fired out a spectacle of light and lightning at the ground to propel him up. The sound and heat of the giant fireball flew at him and Stars wondered if he would be able to clear it in time.

Closing his eyes and focusing on the torrent of energy that flowed through his veins and out of his wand, he pushed the limits of his mana and called upon the strength of Altea to aid him. Gritting his teeth and with a growl, he felt the immense heat and flame of the fireball fly right at him.

It flew under his back, barely scraping by without harming Stars. The witch stood there with a smile as she watched the barreling ball of fire make the brothers disappear. But a surprised look wiped the smile off of her face when she saw one of the priests get flung on top of the cliff out of the way of her fireball. The other priest then barely cleared the top of the fireball without being terribly burnt himself. She hissed in anger and raised her hand to conjure another attack but readied herself when she saw a bolt of pure white lightning fire at her with incredible speed. She readied a fireball to throw at it, but she instead opted to smirk menacingly. She instead chanted quickly and fired her projectile at where Stars was going to land, satisfied that she won't miss.

The white bolt of lightning had missed it's mark, and she knew that. She didn't even flinch a muscle as it flew by her. Her spell however was going to meet it's intended target, she was not going to miss this time. The ball of fire kept expanding like the last spell except not as much, this one didn't require a long casting time or that much preparation so that much was to be expected. However, she knew it was enough to dispatch this priest and for good.

Except to her dismay, the fireball proceeded to collapse on itself as it flew towards Stars. The fireball continued to shrink, and shrink even more as it flew. It lost a great amount of velocity and eventually dissipated before it even reached Stars.

Stars landed on the ground on his back, grunting at the pain. He looked over to see if his lightning bolt had hit and to his surprise. It did.

"What... what happened?" Ariel tried to construct more fireballs to throw at Stars but nothing. Nothing came. "He didn't even hit me!" Ariel cried out. She then felt the hair on her arms and back stand up, and the feeling that the wrath of 10,000 suns was behind her. Turning around, her vision was met with one young very agitated and pissed pyromancer.

"How did you-" Ariel's voice trailed off when the in the corner of her vision, the still pulsing lightning bolt stuck out of one of her restraining pillars. It disrupted the flow of energy and released Djoey from her bonds, returning her grimoire to her.

Djoey didn't say a word, she was too upset even to say anything. The girl felt her rage bubble to the surface and encompass her. The chains that were on her ankles and wrists started to glow red, and eventually started to melt as steam poured from the environment around her.

Ariel felt her magic draining from her violently. Her knees began to buckle and she experienced a violating feeling in her stomach. Her eyes started to water and a burning sensation soon erupted inside her. Ariel groaned in agony, she fell down on her knees and hands, looking up at Djoey.

Djoey's eyes weren't the gentle sky blue they were before, but now instead a deep and dark purple. Ariel looked around, and noticed that it wasn't the heat from the girl that was making her feel uncomfortably hot. It was something else.

The grass around Djoey's feet began to lose it's color rapidly and die, foliage and trees wilted at a rapid rate, and a wind started to flow towards Djoey.

"What... have I done..."

Djoey had become a magic absorbing conduit. Everything in Altera had different forms of magic flowing inside them. Whether it was a lot, a little, white, dark, it didn't matter. Ariel had successfully stolen most of Djoey's power source and the spell had nearly become complete, though she did not care what the consequences were. Since the spell had been broken Djoey's body was collectively attempting to retrieve it's magic, but since the bonding wasn't complete the body doesn't recognize where her magic is. It is attempting to reclaim everything that has mana in it.

Ariel felt all of her overflowing magic power deplete entirely, before strangling her. Djoey struggled with the amount of power that was flowing from her. Her body was overflowing with mana, and she couldn't cut off the channel. The spell was outside of her control and she couldn't manipulate it. Her body felt incredibly tense and she felt the veins in her body pulse with agony. All of her fingers and toes were tingling like she was being electrocuted.

"Djoey!" Stars yelled out to her. He took a step closer to her but Djoey raised her hands up and shook her head. As she did a fireball flew out of her hand and exploded a few feet away from her. It's energy expenditure was enormous, enough to devour the whole canyon. However, the rate of surrounding mana consumption that Djoey was rapidly increasing. The fireball was devoured before it could deliver it's payload. Stars took a step back, pulling on his brother's jacket.

"Careful, too close and she'll drain you of your mana as well." Stars observed the surroundings. He clenched his jaw, seeing Djoey writhing in pain while she was struggling to stop the spell. Trees were un-rooting as they were absorbed in the vortex that was a plethora of magic that swirled around Djoey.

"Djoey!" Stars cried out. He wanted to see if Djoey was capable of communicating with him to see if there's anything he could do. Djoey looked up at him, her face twisted in pain. She opened her mouth to say a word, and to their horror her throat suddenly flushed a fierce red and fire started billowing out of her mouth. She closed it, smoke billowing out her nose when she extinguished it. She coughed, falling to her knees.

"Stars, what do we do?" Sweets asked, feeling helpless at the situation. He had raised his shield, summoning the remaining reserves of his mana to create a shield that gave both the brothers some protection against the vortex.

Stars noticed something crucial. Despite the fact that there was an gigantic amount of volatile magic that flew around Djoey, the four pillars that originally bounded her were still standing untouched by magic. Squinting to try to get a better view of the pillars they were effectively deterring the violent magic and protecting itself.

"I think I have a plan." Stars spoke. Sweets turned back to him, concentrating on enforcing the shield. The vortex of magic had stopped growing in size thankfully, but it was still a force to be reckoned with. In front of them was a flurry of raw magic swirling like a tornado around Djoey. It continued to absorb anything that got near it. Rocks, dirt, grass, and branches flew in a steady flow towards her. The brothers had to ground themselves or risk being pulled in themselves.

Stars however was more worried about Djoey. She floated in a comatose state in the middle of the giant whirlwind. It seems she had blacked out, but that did not stop the spell.

"What's the plan?" Sweets asked, grunting. For having such little mana left he was in his opinion doing good job of protecting them both, even if they were on the very edge of it's range.

"We have to get closer to her." Stars pointed to one of the pillars. "You see that pillar right there? The one with the bolt sticking out of it?" Sweets nodded once he spotted it.

"Once the bolt is pulled out of the pillar, it will stabilize and restrain Djoey's magic from it's violent state." Stars wondered how they would get closer without being turned into raw energy themselves.

"That's all we have to do?" Sweets asked, summoning his shield again.

"Easier said than done, the closer we get the more it's going to take to protect ourselves." Stars noted how the immense fireball that was quickly absorbed back into the vortex and it wasn't even shot that far. The whirlpool of magic was protecting both Djoey and the pillars. They would have to go into it to get to the pillar.

"The protection prayer of Altea is what we need, concentrate on that prayer and also channel a current of light energy in a field around us. It's our only chance." Stars directed to Sweets who agreed with him. Sweets began chanting, and Stars joined him in the prayer.

"_Our goddess Altea,who is holy and divine, protect us with your everlasting light._" Their skin started to pale and glow in illuminous white light.

"_I, who stand against the darkness wish for you to grace me with blessing_." Blue sigils begin to form in the air around the brothers. They were dim and translucent, lacking in color and some were broken.

"_To rescue me from the evil, to banish the horrors, and to save the light!_" Both brothers began to chant louder. The sigils grew brighter and brighter. They started to shine a vivid shade of blue. The broken sigils were definitive and were reconstructed as if by an invisible pen, into solid shields. A large blue shield sigil hummed below them, and tiny sigils of shields flew in circles around the brothers.

Stars thrust his wand into the air, followed by his brother. Yelling in unison, a flow of cackling lightning discharged from their wands to form a of light around them. Sweets felt his knees go weak, exhausted from all the mana he had expended earlier and fell. He was surprised when an arm wrapped around him and pulled him closer.

No words were exchanged between the two as they nodded to each other and turned to face Djoey.

Together they faced Djoey's vortex, moving steadily towards the violent storm. The brothers had to continuously chant the prayer of protection again and again. The strength of Djoey's magic was too much for even the protection prayer and it ate away at the sigils, breaking them apart and before becoming stronger and more violent. Pieces of blue light broke off from the shields around them and flew to become one with the whirlwind.

As if that wasn't enough, the same applied to the light energy that enforced the prayer. Holes would be instantly punched through the light-shield and be swallowed into the spell. It was incredibly taxing on both of them, especially Sweets. Stars felt a wave of drowsiness hit him again, but he shrugged it off this time. He was too focused at the job at hand.

They had nearly reached the physical manifestation of the magic, the wall of fire/ice/poison/dark/light energy that swirled around her. Blood trickled out of Sweets' nose, and he struggled to keep his wand in the air. He completely lost the feeling in his legs, Stars had to carry him with one arm as they ventured closer and closer to the pillar.

By this moment it simply looked like you were feeding a vaccuum with continous energy. The white dome of energy dissipated as soon as it was conjured, and the blue sigils that protected the brothers all cracked and exploded as they were summoned again and again. The large blue shield sigil that was beneath them was now all but a small triangle of dim blue light that surrounded the brothers feet. It struggled to retain it's strength against Djoey but the longer they stayed in the vortex the stronger it got.

"I can't..." Sweets spoke, his wand falling to his side before a rush of blood coursed out of his mouth as well. Stars was at his physical limits, pushing himself harder and harder, trying to conjure the energy needed to keep it up. What was a loud roar of chanting was now but a whisper that came from Sweets. Sweets' eyes suddenly fluttered and shut closed as his body forced him to sleep, blacking out from the exhaustion he was causing himself.

Stars felt the immense load of sudden pain that came from the missing magic that Sweets had contributed. But he couldn't give up even for one second. They had wandered directly into the vortex now. The shields that they conjured were being not only torn apart by the vortex draining it, but lashes of magic attacked them in full force. Stars had to up the ante, _at any cost._ He looked over at Djoey, still floating and imprisoned by the dark elf spell. Horrific violet colored energy protected Djoey from being disturbed. If Stars had known any better, the magic had manifested into a parasite, leeching the energy off of its host but protecting it as well from any harm.

Stars pushed onwards, he was only a couple of feet from the pillars now. They had successfully breached the wall of magic but at great cost. The holes that were punched through by the magic weren't always patched up quick enough and a sliver of magic got through. Stars effectively was bleeding from places he didn't even know existed, his uniform was completely ruined but that didn't matter.

His prayer was louder, and his wand glistened in the swirling mass of attacks that were launched at him. He had to get to Djoey, to save her. He didn't know how much longer she could handle this but it didn't matter what happened to him. Not since that day he met he.

Sweets was a problem and hindered him greatly, but he couldn't leave his brother behind. He looked down at his brother briefly and a smile pulled at Stars' lips. He still kept praying, despite being fully incapacitated. He was stubborn Stars would give him that. Stars however counts his blessing, and even that very little help was worth bringing his brother along.

But he now had to focus at the task at hand. Bringing his attention to the brightly lit lightning bolt that was still pulsing from the pillar Stars pushed onwards. The vortex was behind him, and it tried to pull him back into the wall of magic. It wanted to consume him, to subdue him, and grind him down to raw energy. Stars knew if he faltered even one word of his prayer, or faltered slightly in his dome of protection that his brother and he would be nothing more than eaten by the very thing they love.

Inches. He was inches away. The ferocity of the vortex kicked dirt and blew wind everywhere, nearly blinding Stars but he did not falter. Every word of the prayer was yelled proud, and he felt the heat resonate from inside him from his mana expenditure. He however was failing just like Sweets was earlier, a massive headache wracked him and blood began dripping from his ears and nostrils. He stuttered a word as his vision began to blur, and a hole the size of a door opened through both the sigils and the dome of light. A dagger-like embodiment of dark and fire magic snaked through and embedded itself in Stars' stomach.

The searing hot burn and pain almost made him faint right there, but he was so close to the bolt. He reached out his hand, trying to grab onto the bolt and it nearly touched his fingertips. Lashes of energy that looked like whips descended on the dome, smashing with loud bangs trying to break through Stars' concentration.

"_She is mine..._" A chilling voice was heard. Stars turned his had a little to see black eyes in the middle of the vortex, the magic had indeed manifested into some sort of evil creature. "_You cannot win._" Stars looked at horror at the bolt of lightning and it was still out of reach, on the tip of his fingers. There was several tendrils of violet colored magic that wrapped around his dome and pulled him back, away from the bolt.

Stars felt his energy fade, his hearing nulled as blood filled that cavity, and his vision black out. But even as he did so, he smiled and whispered four little words.

"I love you, Djoey." By breaking the chanting the dome collapsed and an immense amount of demonic energy surged at the two brothers. Stars in his last plight lowered his wand and struck the bolt, dislodging it completely from the pillar.

"_Noo!_" The demonic voice cried. The pillars suddenly grew a vivid shade of purple and shook with force as it attempted to bind the magical entity. The vortex of magic began to collapse, the pillars drew in it's magic source as it bound it to the pillars. It was a spectacular show of force, the pillars acted like four separate vacuums that did not let the magical entity escape. It howled and screamed, trying to escape and fly away but the spell that the dark elf used was too strong for it to bear and it finally succumbed to the force of the pillars and was vaporized instantly.

But the pillars couldn't contain the gigantic reservoir of magic that was now welled up inside of it. The pillars cracked and shook violently still as the spell came to a finish. The pillars were incredibly unstable, and it was too much for the pillars to sustain.

A loud whoosh was sound as an initial shock wave of air launched out from the pillars, before they exploded with a tremendous thundering sound. A pair of hands touched the brothers before the explosion reached them, and they vanished as a great mushroom cloud erupted from the bottom of the canyon, reaching sky high.

Several yards away, Djoey sat there with both of the priests cradled in her lap. Her breathing was hitched and she looked with a timid expression at the valiant men who fought to save her, almost sacrificing themselves in the process. She wrapped her arms around both of them and pulled their heads closer to her, weeping.

~ Two days later. ~

Stars woke when the bright shine of something savagely attacked his eyelids. Groaning, he felt every muscle in his body cry in pain as he tried to shift his position, and a sudden pounding returned to his head. He groaned, and tried to move an arm to clutch his head. But something was holding his arm down. Taking a look over Stars couldn't help but break out in his 'one of a kind' smiles.

There in his view, Djoey held a pair of hands in her lap as she slept soundly upright in a chair. Stars was in a bed opposite of him, his arm stretched out into her lap as well. It was a beautiful sight, the way her gentle face hovered in mid-air while she kept both their hands at her stomach. Her staff and grimoire leaned against her chair, her dress completely ruffled and the fur surrounding her neck was caked in mud.

Stars pushed his pain aside and sat up, getting a hold of his environment. They were no doubt in the middle of some sort of cabin. It was a small room, and it had just the necessities for any person to live. Stars noted that his wand was on the nightstand next to him, as was his shield. Picking them both up and equipping them, the sounds of them clicking together woke Djoey up.

She bolted in her chair, a trail of saliva that had escaped from her mouth was quickly brushed off reflexively before she turned to Stars.

"Stars..." She whispered, still recovering from the situation herself. Stars watched as she gave a weak smile, trying to be cheerful. "Why are you up?" Stars threw his legs over the old bed, generating a groan of pain from the rusty springs.

"Sleep has been kind to me, but I see that it has not been to you." Djoey turned her head away and giggled gently, trying to hide the circles under her eyes. Djoey sometimes cursed how observative Stars was sometimes. She didn't want him to know how worried she was for both of the priests who had almost sacrificed themselves to save her. She didn't want him to know that she had spent hours carrying both of the brothers into the woods before finding this desolate cabin. Nor did she want him finding out she had tended to both of the brothers day and night for the last two days, not missing a single beat when they coughed or looked pale.

"You need to lie down." Stars reached an arm up and felt a really hot burning sensation shoot down his arm and down his spine. He flinched, crying in pain and dropped his arm. Djoey jumped out of her chair in surprise, and was at his side in a second.

"Stars, stop! You need to lie down!" He wouldn't lie, it hurt worse than when he pranked one of the nuns back at the church and the bishop personally reprimanded him with his staff. He didn't understand why it hurt him so much, what happened? Looking at his arm, it was bandaged heavily, thick with white wool. Narrowing his eyes, he reached over with his other hand and stuck a finger under the wool.

"Don't!" Djoey cried, he looked over at her. Her face was full of emotion, contorted slightly because she was trying really hard from tearing up but it didn't work. Her eyes were watery, and she gulped. She reached over and held his other hand. "Please, don't."

Stars thought back to what happened, and remembered. It came back to him at the final blow when he released the bolt from the pillar freeing her from the spell. When he lowered his wand the shield disintegrated, and he had to reach through the horrendously savage magic to dislodge the bolt. He nodded to her, signaling her that he won't.

"What happened to the dark elf?" Stars asked. That question came to his mind as he did not see her in the cabin. Did Djoey have to fight her afterward?

"She..." Djoey took a deep breath, looking down. It was hard for her to say, what she saw after the spell had died down and she regained control of herself and her surroundings. "There wasn't much left..." Djoey let out after a moment of silence. Stars didn't probe any further.

"Uhh..." Sweets groaned from the other side, and two pairs of eyes followed the sound to see a stirring priest. Djoey quickly moved over to Sweets' side, making sure he was okay as well.

Sweets was okay, and Stars was in a stable condition. The two had fought tooth and nail with forces that were overwhelming, and pushed themselves to a breaking point to defeat the darkness. They rested at the cabin for another day, both of the men insisting that Djoey get some rest to which she finally did. The priests finally had enough mana and strength on the third day to lick their wounds, and they said goodbye to the cabin.

The Sweet Three as they are so aptly named, left the cabin tired and battered, but with charming smiles on their faces. Save Stars of course. They made their way back to Carderock Pass, where they were able to officially sleep in a good bed, and see the clerics and priests to heal them.

Life returned normally to the three, and soon the day that all three of them were nearly all swallowed up would be long behind them. They would face trials as equally challenging as this one, and it would test how tightly knit their friendships were. But after all they have been through together, all the memories they have made. One could say they were confident they would trump them all.

"Duh!" Djoey cried, winking. "We'll never be apart right Sweets, Stars?"

"With you my lady, I would travel to the ends of the world! For him not so much." Sweets chimed in, energetically. Stars rolled his eyes.

"I would go even further, to the ends of the universe." Stars grunted with a smirk, pushing Sweets with his shoulder. Sweets lost footing for a second before pushing back.

"Why you fiend! We all know that you fall asleep all the time and leave me doing all the work! I-"

"Oh you two!" Djoey stepped in front of them, their arguing dying in the background. "Thanks for reading!"


End file.
